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FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS FAS
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How You Receive Your Financial Aid Graduate Students

When you're admitted, UC San Diego establishes a student account for you, identified by your personal ID number, which begins with "A." Your student account records all charges (and payments) for registration fees, housing, parking, and other miscellaneous fees.

Most financial aid awards (including scholarships) are credited to your UC San Diego student account each quarter. Work-study awards are paid to you in biweekly checks that you can either pick up at work or have deposited directly to your personal bank account.

2024-25 Quarterly Disbursement Schedule and Remainder Financial Aid Refunds Availability Fall Quarter 2024 Winter Quarter 2025 Spring Quarter 2025
First scheduled financial aid disbursement for the quarter 9/17/2024 12/28/2024 3/22/2025
Remainder financial aid refunds available: first week of instruction 9/20/2024 1/6/2025 3/31/2025

Read more about the steps necessary for disbursing financial aid and scholarship awards below. (If you're expecting summer aid, you can also read additional notes on Summer Session.)

Make Sure You've Met Eligibility Requirements

  1. You must be enrolled in at least 6 units (not including wait-listed courses).

  2. You must not have any holds on your student account.

  3. Your Financial Aid file must be complete.

    • Make sure you've submitted all required documents to the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office.

    • Check your UC San Diego e-mail inbox for any messages from the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office about updating your file.

    • Check your financial aid award status online to verify that you've submitted all required documents.

If You Accepted Loans, Make Sure You've Met These Additional Requirements

  1. You must complete a Master Promissory Note for your Federal Direct loan.

  2. For Graduate PLUS loans you must complete a new Master Promissory note, in addition to the Direct PLUS Loan Application for Graduate/Professional Students.

  3. You must complete entrance loan counseling.

After You Meet All Requirements, All Financial Aid Funds (Except for Work-Study Checks) Are Credited to Your Student Account

  1. Check your financial aid award status online to verify that you've met all requirements.

  2. Financial aid awards will be divided equally by the number of quarters you'll attend (usually 3).

  3. Financial aid pays your costs in the following order:

    1. Registration fees

    2. Housing

    3. All other charges owed to the university according to their due dates (this may include Bookstore or parking charges, among other things)

  4. Financial aid and scholarship disbursement dates vary from quarter to quarter. Disbursements begin in September (for fall quarter), January (for winter quarter), and March (for spring quarter).

  5. Financial aid disbursements for Summer Session and study abroad and exchange programs may differ.

Student Financial Solutions Sends You an eMail with a Link to your E-Bill

  1. View your billing statement online to see what's been paid and what you still owe.

  2. If you've been awarded non-UC San Diego scholarships but they haven't yet been credited to your student account, you may need to contact the agency. Read more about receiving scholarship funds from non-UC San Diego organizations.

  3. Learn about ways to pay your bill, including the Triton Registration Installment Plan.

Credit Balance

If you have a credit balance (if financial aid awards and any other credits are greater than your total bill), you'll receive a refund.

  1. Your financial aid credit is automatically refunded to you at the beginning of each quarter, after all fees and charges are paid.

    • If you have a housing contract, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office strongly recommends that you set it up on the quarterly installment plan, because when your housing payments are evenly distributed throughout the academic year, your financial aid awards are more likely to cover them each quarter.

  2. A refund check will be sent to you by mail or deposited directly to your bank account. The refund check appears as a charge on your bill to bring your account balance to zero.

  3. You're responsible for any additional charges placed on your student account after the refund goes through.

  4. If any financial aid funds are disbursed late in the quarter, these funds may be included in the following quarter's refund. Contact Student Financial Solutions if you need these funds earlier.

  5. Learn more about financial aid credit balances on your student account.

Work-Study Checks

Work-study checks are paid directly to you via check or direct deposit, and are not applied to your UC San Diego student account like other financial aid awards

  1. You'll be paid an hourly wage for the number of hours you work.

  2. You'll receive your work-study check every other week.

  3. You'll receive a check made payable to you, or (if you make arrangements with your employer) your work-study check will be directly deposited into your personal bank account.

  4. Read more about work-study.